The full story is that AJ is happy to pay a Carbon Tax on domestic routes but is not prepared to pay it on international sectors. Which is fair enough really when your competitors don't pay tax let alone a carbon one.
However the whole point of a carbon tax is to reduce pollution. So if QF get's it way the carbon tax actually won't have any affect on the biggest carbon emitters in aviation, long haul flying.
Which then raises the point if the government is willing to exempt the major pollutors what is the point of having a carbon tax, other than trying to tax it's citzens into oblivion?